Luke 18:1-8
Justice from Persistence
1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
The world is corrupt and their are some corrupt judges in the world...And Jesus gives us a parable that has one of the main characters as a corrupt judge...Jesus said, “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought...And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’...“For some time he refused...But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”...This judge did not care about justice but cared more about being bothered and maybe being attacked by a woman who was actually seeking justice...
Jesus has assured the crowd who was listening that they will see justice in the end...And the LORD said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says... And will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night?...Will he keep putting them off?...I tell you, He will see that they get justice, and quickly...God is merciful...And our Father is full of grace...
Jesus then leaves us with this question to reflect on...“However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”...Like the widow discovered in the parable, Jesus has told us that yes God will faithfully see to our deliverance out of His mercy and His grace...God mercifully exchanges our sins and inequities and forgives...Yet, none of this assures that when Jesus returns in His Second Advent that He will find faith when He comes back...This mercy almost seems one-sided as we think about it...The mercy extended to us in this life and the next hardly assures our faithfulness to Him when He returns...
God gives us mercy, but what do we give Him in return?...When Jesus returns to earth, will the earth be full of His followers, who have faith in Him?...